


If you were drowned at sea

by little_wayward_bird



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Batfamily (DCU), Brother-Sister Relationships, Brotherly Bonding, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Drowning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, For chapter one, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Good Sibling Tim Drake, Hurt Jason Todd, Hurt Tim Drake, Jason Todd Gets A Hug, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Kidnapping, Language, POV Tim Drake, Recovery, Torture, and Jason cause he's Jason, everybody cause they're all mad, other pov's for following chapters, they're all good siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:39:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27970121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_wayward_bird/pseuds/little_wayward_bird
Summary: Chains shifted and a wet body hit the ground along with a sharp gasp. Then there was a shuffling of movement. “Hold him steady.”Whoever’s throat they were pouring water into started choking hard. The thugs started snickering again while one spoke.“What’s the matter, Hood? Don’t want any water?”Every shred of Tim’s body froze and his blood ran cold in horror. What did they just say?
Relationships: Jason Todd & Everyone, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Comments: 34
Kudos: 489





	1. I'd give you my lungs so you could breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Work and chapter titles are from the song Brother by Kodaline.

Tim really hated kidnappings. Seriously, there have been plenty of them for all the Wayne’s over the years, but not one has been successful because Batman comes to the rescue. They always think that they’re different but they’re all the same. They’re all morons.

There’s been a bag over his head and a gag in his mouth since they took him as he was leaving work. Also, his hands were tied behind his back. Then they just drove around for at least two hours, which was ridiculous, with Tim in the trunk. He could tell it was aimless driving to begin with because there was an unnecessary amount of turns that meant they were still in the main city. He’d honestly been thinking about just taking a nap. He’s pretty sure he did at one point. But they finally arrived somewhere.

The car stopped abruptly and after a minute, he heard the trunk open and then he was roughly pulled out. They dropped him on his feet and pushed him forward to walk, keeping a hand on his shoulder to direct him. As he couldn’t see, if he had to guess by the walk up, it was a wealthy home. Too much yard to be something smaller. Once inside, they took him up a lot of stairs and several hallways, then down a long hallway. They stopped and Tim heard the sounds of locks clicking open. He was harshly shoved forward and was met with very unsettling sounds: rushing water, muffled noises of distress, and a lot of sadistic laughing.

Something connected with the back of Tim’s head, sending him to the floor. His head now ached but he was still conscious. Despite that, he let his body go deadweight so his kidnappers believed he was unconscious. They dragged him several feet by his cuffed hands then attached the cuffs to another chain with a loud lock. He sensed the people walked away from him so he listened intently. The sounds of water paused for a moment, allowing whoever they were waterboarding a moment to cough roughly and gulp in air.

"Why'd you bring the kid in here?" A gruff voice asked.

A deep second voice answered. "Boss wanted him in one of the back rooms of the house and plus, this is the only room with locks on it. So what if we're using it to lock up two people, not like they're gonna talk. And of course, everywhere else you could nudge the door and it'll fall." Laughing followed. “How long y’all been going?” They asked, sounding amused.

“Just a few minutes. Wanted to wait for you guys to get back with the boy but, we got impatient,” the first voice joked.

“We had to drive around for about three hours with the kid to throw off any suspicion. Keep going, don’t let us stop you. Kid’s out cold and we only get to have fun for an hour or so before boss needs us again.” The second voice spoke again, sounding gleeful.

The rushing water started up again, and it reminded Tim of a high pressure shower, though it sounded more like a harsh waterfall. The sounds were paired with the distressed noises and disturbing laughs. There were at least six voices, all masculine. It continued for about fifteen minutes, stopping occasionally to make sure they didn’t kill their victim. They weren’t asking questions or anything that would give the slightest reason to the torture. They were doing it for fun.

After the rushing water finally stopped completely, thug number two spoke again, smugly, along with the sounds of water splashing in a bowl or bucket. “We’ve collected some water.”

A third thug spoke. “Well, we don’t want him dying of dehydration.” It didn’t sound like he meant it sincerely. Metal chains shifted and a wet body hit the ground along with a sharp gasp. Then there was a shuffling of movement. “Hold him steady.”

Whoever’s throat they were pouring water into started choking hard. The thugs started snickering again while one spoke.

“What’s the matter, Hood? Don’t want any water?”

Every shred of Tim’s body froze and his blood ran cold in horror. _What did they just say?_

The choking stopped after a minute but was followed by rough coughing. Tim listened carefully to the voice, trying to make out the sound. It was hard over the laughing.

“Out of water,” voice three stated, almost sounding disappointed. Then he sounded gleeful. “But he’s still conscious.”

“Good. We don’t want him passing out on us just yet,” a fourth, more authoritative sounding voice said. The statement was followed by a small sound of crackling electricity, then a deep bone chilling scream of pain. A scream Tim has heard before. It lasted for about five seconds till the body crashed to the floor again.

“Who knew the Red Hood had such a loud scream?” One of them snickered, causing the others to erupt in laughter once again.

“We did,” another quipped gleefully. “We’ve got a whole week’s full of sampling ‘em.”

“Yeah, especially when we gave him that fear toxin. Wonder if we have any left? I'd love to hear those pathetic whimpering noises he made at one point.” Laughing again.

Tim felt sick, insanely sick. The only thing keeping his stomach contents in was his extensive training. He was listening to his brother getting tortured by people who were taking immense pleasure in it. The family didn’t even know Jason had been missing, _for a week_.

“Boss said that if the ransom goes well tomorrow, we can keep him for another week before auctioning him off to his execution.”

“I still don’t get why we can’t just kill the bastard ourselves,” one of them muttered.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” The clear one in charge barked. “Lots of rich folks will _pay_ to kill him themselves. This jackass has pissed off a lot of people. So, soon as boss tells us, we’re auctioning off the asshole. But, that don’t mean we can’t get him to as near death as we want to.”

“Not like that bats’ll come looking for him. We could probably keep him for a month without them even noticing.”

Tim was grateful for the gag now, it gave him something to bite down hard on.

“I’m honestly surprised he ain’t dead yet anyhow,” one of them stated. “He should’ve kicked the bucket when we dropped that cinderblock on his head when he was first here.”

“It’s cause of that stupid helmet. But hey, if it had killed him, we wouldn’t be able to pile on this much revenge now would we?” The authoritative one suggested.

“I just wish we knew who he was. We could destroy him a whole lot more if we did.”

“Eh. If he’s got no name, no one is going to miss him.” There was a sharp sound of a foot connecting with bone along with a gasp of pain.

The torture went on for what seemed like forever in Tim’s mind, each minute of his brother's pain felt like an hour. He recalled those guys said they only had an hour, so it’s probably been close to that.

They were drowning him again. It was terrifying to listen to. Once he got past the distressed sounds from his brother and the sadistic laughing, he could hear water splashing around in a tub. That plus the absence of rushing water, and sporadic dunks and splashes, told Tim they were actually drowning him, not just mimicking it.

Tim’s leg suddenly spiked in pain from the cramp of being in the position those men dropped him in for so long. He involuntarily flinched to stretch his legs and relieve the cramp. Tim let a groan come out as the muscles relaxed, taking a chance those thugs will stop to focus on him. Of course there was the chance they’ll just knock him out again and keep going which was why he hadn’t done anything yet; he needed to stay awake to make sure they didn’t accidentally kill him anyway. Tim moved just a little more, turning his body to be more on his back.

“The kid is awake,” one of the men pointed out. Tim could still hear quiet thrashing in the water, though it was growing weaker; he hadn't heard Jason gulp for air for at least two minutes now.

“Well, then just knock him out again,” the thug in charge ordered.

 _“Johnson,”_ a static voice echoed around the room. _“Chain your pet back up and get down here. Boss wants everyone so he can go over tomorrow’s exchange.”_

They pulled Jason's head out of the water allowing him to cough out water and chug in air, and the men all grumbled.

“Go get the chains. Parker, go knock out the kid.”

Tim heard feet coming toward him and flinched back to play the part. As he approached, Tim heard Johnson speak again.

“Don’t worry, Hood. We’ll be back to you tomorrow. And you’re gonna keep paying for what you did to us last year.”

There was a low groan. “Sorry to tell you this, but I don’t fucking _remember_ you, and I don’t _care_ ,” Jason rasped out, struggling to breathe steadily. Johnson growled fiercely. Just as Parker swung what felt like a metal pipe at Tim’s head, he heard Johnson punch Jason hard, slamming his body to the ground.

**

Tim groaned awake, feeling an intense pain in his head. He opened his eyes and all he saw was the dark sac still around his head. He sighed as he remembered he’d been kidnapped. Then his entire body jolted as memory of what else happened before he was knocked out burst through. He pulled at his arms to try and reach his back pocket. The kidnappers took everything off him tech wise, but didn’t bother with the lock pick. He awkwardly pulled it out and expertly unlocked the cuffs. It only took him about fifteen seconds. He yanked them off, sat up and pulled the bag off his head. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the slightly more lit than the bag room. It gave him a moment to get the gag out of his mouth.

He looked around and realized he was really lucky there were no guards in the room, which turned out to be a bathroom. Bruce would be so disappointed to know he rushed through that. But all fucks he gave about that vanished when his eyes landed on Jason.

He was tied to a column on his knees, arms and legs tied back behind it, and with how strained his arms looked, it must be a painful angle. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, still had on cargo pants, though they were really tattered, and there was a blindfold tying his head to the column so he was straight up, no way of relaxing at all.

Tim hurried up to Jason, knelt in front of him and gently took the blindfold off. Jason’s head instantly fell forward. He was unconscious, extremely pale and sickly looking. _If they’ve had him for a week, he’s probably gotten no food. And the only water he’s been given was through waterboarding._ His hair was actually still wet from the last-

Tim had no idea how long he’d been out, but hopefully not that long if Jason’s hair was still wet.

Tim walked around the column and saw that Jason’s wrists and ankles were tied together – left wrist to right ankle and right wrist to left ankle – pulling Jason in very painful ways.

Swallowing down a growl, he first unlocked the cuffs keeping his wrists and ankles together. The shift in his arms moving up and legs hitting the ground pulled a groan of pain from Jason. Tim paused and looked at the situation, thinking of the best way to free him without hurting him further. The four chains cuffed to each of Jason’s limbs went back to a ring attached to the top of a two foot pole and was connected to a single chain that went back to the wall.

Tim went to the wall, which was about six feet away from Jason. He gripped the chain tightly and with one hand, picked the lock keeping it on the wall. It opened but the pressure pulling Jason did not release, meaning it was held at the pole. He put the chain on the floor and walked to the pole. He slowly lifted up the ring off its slot and the chain was instantly pulled toward Jason, but Tim held on to keep Jason from falling forward. He walked back and got on his knees in front of Jason, pressing his shoulder to Jason’s to keep Jason up. He let go of the chain then reached back and slowly uncuffed his feet and then his arms which had relaxed down without the chain keeping them up. Jason’s near dead weight collapsed forward to Tim. Tim eased his brother partially down then pulled him away from the column. Jason was the heaviest of their siblings, but Tim could tell there was a difference now in his weight, as in less, which pissed him off more. As gently as he could, he flipped Jason to lay flat on his back.

Jason was breathing heavily, sweating profusely, and was incredibly bruised, especially dark around his wrists and ankles with deep indents from the tightness of the cuffs. In some places were wounds that have bled but were scabbing over. It looked like there were burns too, electrical and flame. _What have they been doing to him?_ He only heard them do a few different things but, what he saw was a result of so much more.

Tim stood and walked around. But upon not finding a cloth of any kind, except one in the shower stall that was used in Jason’s torture which was a _hell no_ , he unbuttoned his top shirt then tore his undershirt to have a scrap rag. He went to one of the sinks and as quietly as he could, turned the faucet and soaked the rag. He squeezed out the excess water then went back to Jason and started gently wiping his skin. His skin was burning up, especially his forehead. Being in this place for so long, it’s not surprising he’s sick too, especially being wet so often and left in the cold bathroom. Tim tried to keep his guilt at bay, but he couldn’t.

Jason hadn’t contacted any of them for over a week. But they hadn’t even thought to look for him, or try to contact him, or track him to make sure he was okay. They were on good terms, nothing happened that would prompt Jason to go off the grid without telling them first. They should’ve known better. They _did_ know better, but always too fucking hesitant to act when it came to Jason. And now Jason was really sick and really injured, after being tortured for a week because these assholes wanted to. Red Hood was the most effective at taking gangs like this down and he clearly pissed off a particular group of them, but Tim didn’t like how much glee they took at his misery. Clearly, the ones who were hurting Jason were the only ones in this gang who wanted to which meant they had a personal grudge with Hood. Something he doesn’t remember which isn’t surprising with how many groups Jason has shut down in the past year. The gang currently keeping Jason prisoner – Tim was a hostage, a slightly different situation – probably have a grudge with him too, since they’re letting these guys do what they’ve done.

_What the hell happened? How did Jason even end up here?_

Tim stood up again and wet the rag. He continued to wipe his skin, seeing the difference between what was dirt or debris, and his skin. Most of it was his skin. After a couple minutes of doing that, he wet the cloth one more time then placed it on Jason’s forehead. Then he pulled off his button up shirt and folded it up to put it under Jason’s head. That's when he really noticed that Jason was shaking slightly, likely from the cold. He went over to the other sink and grabbed Jason's jacket. He very gently draped it over his torso. Tim sat beside him and grabbed his wrist, placing his fingers over his pulse. It was much faster than it should have been; his body trying to compensate for lack of oxygen. Tim kept his fingers there and looked around the room.

It was partially lit from the hallway light seeping through the bottom of the double doors. It was still dim which had allowed Tim’s eyes to adjust quickly. The bathroom was large, mostly open space width wise, curving inward, a column on either side of the doors but closer to the center of the room. There were two faucets and counters on either side of the doors. A porcelain tub was directly across from the doors. It was one of those fancy ones with the brass feet and wasn’t embedded to the wall and had a lot of space behind and around it. There was a large shower stall to the left and a toilet alcove to the right. On one of the long counters, opposite to the one Tim had been going to, was Jason’s gear: armor, boots, and his helmet which was in pieces.

Tim sighed, pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He looked down at Jason, just trying to imagine the pain he’s been going through this past week, especially with no indication his family was looking for him. He put his chin on his knees stared off, going through ways everyone in the family could be doing better with reaching out to Jason. If they got out of this, that is. Of course they would. Tim was here, that would lead them to Jason, the biggest surprise everyone will receive or have received in months, and then they’ll do better.

After what felt like half an hour or something, it was really hard to tell at this point, Jason groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Tim moved forward so Jason would see his face without needing to move himself. He flinched slightly first before his eyes settled on him.

“Tim?”

“Yeah, Jay, it’s me, Tim. Just- just Tim though.”

Jason nodded very slightly and spoke, his voice insanely hoarse and dry. “I’d heard rumors that they were going to kidnap a Wayne and ransom them. But this group, if they don’t get their money, they kill the hostage. I tried to take ‘em out first, probably rushed it as it didn’t exactly go to plan. It started well, but something happened-”

“One of them mentioned your head got to first base with a cinderblock.”

“Oh, is that what it was? I blacked out pretty much the second it made contact… I’m sorry, Tim, I screwed up. And now you’re in danger.”

Tim felt like sobbing at the fact Jason was apologizing to him for trying to save him premeditatedly. “Jason, you have nothing to be sorry about. Do you even know how long you’ve been here?”

“No… a few days?”

“A week. You’ve been here for a week. And- and we didn’t even think to look for you, or call you or anything. We thought you’d just left for a break or a mission, so we didn’t worry. We should have, because nothing really happened that would make you want to drop off the world without telling us. I’m so sorry, Jason. We could’ve saved you from all this, if we’d just been thinking.”

Jason didn’t look at him, just slightly nodded his head. “It’s okay. I assume you don’t have any way of communicating?”

It wasn’t okay, but Tim let it pass for the moment. “No, I don’t. They took everything off me. Except my lock pick because they thought it was a hair clip. But, your hood is still over there, I might be able to get it to work.” Jason closed his eyes and nodded again.

Tim walked over to the helmet and saw it was only in like three pieces, and that was primarily the outer shell. The inner mechanisms, along with the ear piece with the com was a bit of a mess.

He brought it over to Jason. “It okay if I finagle in here?”

“Tim, I don’t care if you want to do a jig on my back, if you can get us out of here, you have my okay with _everything_. Actually, except waterboarding, I’m really over that.”

Tim closed his eyes tightly. “They brought me in while they were doing that to you. I had a bag over my head, but I could still hear. They said they had just started. I didn’t know it was you until they started talking about you. I heard everything up to when they- when they were drowning you. Then they realized I was awake and knocked me out.”

“Shit, Timmy, I-”

“Don’t you dare fucking apologize. Yes, it was awful to partially witness what they did to you, of what they’ve been doing to you. But, I can’t even fathom what you must have gone through this week.” Tim felt really sick. “How many times have they done that to you? Drowning you, I mean.”

Jason swallowed dryly. “I- I don’t know. Everything’s kind of just become a blur. But, they’ve waterboarded me, and- and actually drowned me, both more than other things I know that. Maybe I dropped them in Gotham harbor or something and that’s why they’re pissed. With lack of oxygen, it’s really hard to fight back. Though I did nearly escape early on; that’s when they stopped giving me water, properly anyway. Everything else really is a blur.”

Tim closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Fucking hell, even after Batman takes them out, I’m finding them as Red Robin and beating the ever fucking shit out of them.”

Jason huffed a laugh. “Damn, Timmy, never knew you had that in you.”

“Jason, they’ve been torturing you- _torturing you_ \- for a week because they _wanted_ to, no other motive. They just fucking wanted to.”

Jason shrugged. “Well, to be fair-“

“NO.” Tim furiously cut him off, putting the hood pieces down and looking down at him.

Jason furrowed his brows. “No?”

“No. Do not be _fair_ to these fucking assholes. They are the bad guys, not you. What you do is to help and save other people, these sadistic fucks hurt people for the fun of it. I know it’s just your self-loathing way of coping with what’s happened to you, but Jason, listen to me, _you did not deserve this_. Not in any way, shape, or form.” Tim spoke a bit softer, feeling more emotional now as he’s been thinking about this for a while but never knew how to talk to Jason about it. “You are such a good hearted person. You've had your bad moments, I know. But even when you were running the criminal underworld, your main goal was to protect kids. Since you were a kid, you’ve put others before you, especially other kids. And yet, you have blamed yourself for every shitty thing that has happened to you, thinking you deserved it, but you did not deserve any of it. None of it is your fault; not Willis being a jackass, not your mom’s death, not your death, not what Talia did to you, and definitely not _this_. I really wish you would stop hating yourself for all that bad stuff and all the bad things you’ve done. We don't. We forgave you a long time ago.”

“Tim-”

“We care about you so fucking much, Jason, but you don’t think people can or want to care about you, so you push away and hate yourself for being unlovable and thinking you don’t deserve to be loved. But we love you so fucking much. We all just wish you’d see that, and that you would see yourself the way we do.” Tim paused and looked down at his hands. Jason didn’t say anything and just looked at the ceiling. “You would literally do anything for us, even if it put your life at risk. Hell, you tried to save me without these assholes even knowing what _they_ were going to do. But Jason, despite what happened this past week, we would do _anything_ for you. We would. But we’ve been treading lightly, trying not to overstep and make you uncomfortable. But now I’m saying fuck that. We fucked up so badly. One phone call could have saved you sooner. If we had let ourselves openly care about you to the extent we _do_ , you would not have gone through any of this. And you’re going to have to learn to let us. We are your family and we want to help you out of shit like this, or through it, just like you have for all of us. I don’t know how I can convince you of that any simpler. You are part of our seriously fucked up family and we all give a damn about you.”

Tim looked down at Jason to see his eyes were squeezed shut. Tim smiled a little, “You just need to give a damn about yourself.”

Jason took a deep inhale through his nose and nodded once, but didn’t open his eyes. Tim assumed he was probably keeping himself from getting emotional. After such an awful and soul draining week, hearing what Tim said probably pushed a last wall down. Tim was going to make sure this never ever happened to Jason again, even if it meant calling him three times a day and stalking him on patrol.

They stayed in silence for a while, the only sounds were Jason’s breathing and Tim mumbling under his breath as he tried fix Jason’s com link. After a bit, something occurred to him. He carefully stood up and went to the sink again. He looked around and under the sink before finding something that resembled a cup. He rinsed it a bunch, though quietly because Jason flinched the moment the water started running. Once it seemed kind of clean, he filled it up and brought it back to Jason.

He knelt beside him and spoke gently. “You think you can sit up a little so you can drink some water?”

Jason closed his eyes tightly, took a breath, then nodded. Tim smiled a tiny bit at how much trust Jason was putting in him right now. Tim put the cup down and put his left arm under Jason’s shoulders, then slowly got him up to a good angle. His jacket slid down him some but it freed his arm. Tim picked up the cup with his right hand and put it in Jason’s.

“Do you think you can do it yourself?” He asked him, trying to give Jason control of the water going into him. Jason nodded a bit and closed his hand around the cup. Tim put his hand under Jason’s forearm to help steady him. He kept it loosely under Jason’s arm but didn’t touch him with any kind of force. Jason very slowly sipped from the cup. They remained like that till Jason was able to drink all the water in it. Tim guided his arm back down then his shoulders, making sure his head landed on the bundled up shirt, then covered his torso again with the leather jacket.

“Do you want anymore?”

Jason shook his head. “No, no, I’m okay. Thank you.”

Tim smiled and simply nodded. He placed the cup down on his other side and returned to working on Jason’s helmet. Occasionally, Tim would make Jason talk. He really didn’t want him falling asleep; one, he doesn’t know the extent of his injuries which included a cinderblock to the head, so there had to be a concussion, even if it has been a week since, and two, when they could get out, Jason needed to be awake because there was no way Tim could drag or carry him out.

After about what he thinks was thirty minutes, probably more, Tim finally got the com back online. Without tools or anything, it unfortunately did take him that long. He wouldn’t be telling anybody that though. Tim didn’t wait. He activated it and held the helmet piece up to his ear. Oracle’s voice came on about fifteen seconds later.

“Hood, finally, you selfish asshole, we’ve been trying to contact you all day. Tim’s been kidnapped by one of your open case gangs and we need your help finding him.”

Tim was going to cut in right off but got tongue tied at the thought that everyone had assumed Jason was intentionally not responding, but he was glad Jason hadn’t heard that. They all really needed to work on their relationships with Jason.

He heard Oracle open up more connections on the channel and Bruce spoke first.

“Oracle,” Batman stated, seeming unaware of the line to Hood.

“B, Hood’s com is finally online.”

“Where are you?” Batman barked.

Tim swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke. “Batman, this is Tim.”

There was a really long pause. “ _What?_ ”

Tim's voice trembled a little but he tried to keep himself calm. “This is Tim. The gang that took me has been keeping Red Hood prisoner for the past week, since he tried to come and shut them down after he heard they were going to abduct a Wayne. They got the drop on him and by that I mean they dropped a cinderblock on his head. They’ve kept him to have- to have _fun_ with him, is what they kept saying. And now, he’s- Jay’s _really_ far from okay.”

The silence that followed echoed the guilt Tim’s been feeling for the past hour.

“Oh my god,” Barbara mumbled under her breath after a minute.

Tim looked down at Jason, who hadn’t seemed to notice Tim was talking. Looking closer, he saw Jason was actually asleep and breathing irregular, like he was struggling to get air.

He put the ear piece down and started shaking Jason’s shoulder. “Jason, wake up. Come on, wake up.”

Jason came to with a dry coughing fit and to Tim, it sounded like the kind of cough to get water out of your lungs. He pushed Jason onto his side to help. Once he was breathing okay, Tim guided him back to the floor.

Jason was still gasping for air, but because it’s Jason, he decided to use that precious air to speak. “Fuck those bastards… it’s bad enough to dream about suffocating…under the ground…but now… I get to add under water…to the list. I’m never fucking swimming again.” He coughed a bit again then tried to relax, but he was even paler if that was possible and shaking even more now. Tim quickly stood up and wet the rag again. He very gently put it on his forehead.

Jason groggily looked at him. “Hey Timmy, is there a tiny voice saying your name or am I starting to hallucinate?”

Tim smirked painfully and picked up the ear piece. “I fixed the com link, you’re not hallucinating.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

“Which part?”

Jason huffed. “Obviously the com link being fixed. Hallucinating would be so much better than reality right now.”

“Now, I know you’re delirious.”

Jason just smiled a tiny bit but then he grimaced in pain.

“I’m here, sorry,” Tim said into the com.

Batman answered, slight bit of emotion creeping into his voice, “It’s okay. Did Jason just imply that they’ve been drowning him?”

“Yes and well... They’ve been waterboarding him, as his only source of hydration from what I could tell. And also have been actually drowning him. As well as a lot of other things.”

Batman growled lowly and Tim heard other noises of anger in the background. Batman spoke, trying to sound calm. “We’ve tracked the com and we’re on our way to your location now. Is there anything you can tell us about the situation?”

“Well, they had a bag over my head till we reached the room we’re in now, which is a giant bathroom that looks like it was last occupied in the nineties. I don’t know how many men-”

Jason lightly gestured, so Tim moved the ear piece down next to his head. He thankfully had caught his breath. “When I came, how long did you say? Whatever, like a week ago or something, there were a few dozen gang members and maybe some hired thugs. I took out at least two dozen before they dropped a concrete brick on me, which I say is cheating. But those guys could be recovered by now, except the ones now without a kneecap, or they could’ve hired more. I dunno. My case file has a detailed map of this house. If I’m remembering correctly but totally might not be, Timmers and I are in the far west bathroom, third level.”

Jason was already winded again. Tim put a hand on his shoulder then brought the ear piece back to his ear. “You get all that?”

“We did. We’ll be there in ten minutes. We’re coming to get you. _Both_ of you. Try and keep the com on if you can. And Tim, keep him awake.”

“I will.”

The connection ended. Ten minutes; this house must be near Bristol. “They’ll be here in ten minutes,” Tim told Jason as he pulled the com out of the broken piece of the helmet to fit it into his ear.

Jason nodded a bit. “Good. Help me get up.”

“What? No, Jay, you need to stay down. You could have injuries you can’t even feel right now.”

“I know, Tim. But as soon as they see the Bats coming, they’re going to come in here and kill me, then take you as a human shield or bargaining chip or some shit for the leader to get out free. Dude’s that much of an asshole. We need to be ready for that.”

As much as Tim wanted to argue, he knew Jason was right. So, he slowly helped Jason sit up and then rise to his feet. He was fairly wobbly and looked absolutely exhausted. He leaned against the column and spoke breathlessly. “See if you can find anything I can use, like loose pipes or something.”

Tim picked up Jason's jacket and put it back with his other gear; he didn't need the extra weight on him while fighting. He then wandered around the bathroom and found a pipe on the floor by the shower; probably the one used to knock him out. He walked back over and handed it to Jason.

“You know you can’t fight super well, right? You’re Tim Drake, not Red Robin.”

“I know. Doesn’t mean I can’t help in some way.”

Tim walked away and picked up the chains that had been holding him. They were still around the column. He walked to the opposite side of the room so the chain was across the path. He kept it loose though. Jason went to the door and stood beside it, leaning heavily against the wall. They stayed silent and listened.

A little over five minutes passed when chaos grew throughout the house. Jason tensed, forcing himself to be very alert. Tim wanted to comment because Jason shouldn’t be able to just block out all his pain and exhaustion but he knew that’s just how Jason worked. Actually, on a bad day, it’s how they all worked. Tim got ready to pull the chain taut. They could hear voices now.

“Get Drake! He’s our only leverage.”

“What about Hood?”

“Just shoot him in the head and leave him there for the bats to find. He's not worth keeping alive.”

Tim growled angrily at that. Jason looked to him with a brow raised slightly. Tim raised his back.

They waited a moment and listened as the multiple locks were freed and the door opened. Three thugs walked in and looked shocked that they were no longer there. Jason approached the last one and swung the pipe against his head with all the strength he could manage, which was still quite a bit, sending him to the ground. Then he kicked the second one from behind, causing the front two to stumble forward, where Tim then pulled the chain, tripping them so they crashed into the porcelain bathtub, cracking it with their heads.

Jason shouted as his body suddenly convulsed from being electrocuted and he crashed to his hands and knees, breathing hard. Tim’s eyes widened. The thug behind Jason grinned down at him. “You’re not going anywhere you son of a bitch. I’m not through with you yet.” Tim recognized the voice as the thug in charge from earlier.

"Funnily enough, I _am_ the son of a _bitch_ ," Jason growled then kicked his leg out backwards with all his strength, hitting the guy in the crotch. The man keeled over and dropped the taser, groaning in pain. Jason picked it up, turned around and tased him in the chest long enough to knock him out cold. He crashed to the ground with a loud thud. Jason dropped the taser, returned to all fours and, breaths coming out in heaves, muttered, “I have been waiting…all _fucking_ _week…_ to do that.”

Tim sighed in relief and stood up. Jason picked up the thug’s gun and got to his feet, then without hesitating, shot the guy in the left kneecap. Tim was already walking up to him, but stopped and aimed a pointed look at Jason, but he couldn’t really blame him for doing that. Jason spoke, answering the question Tim already figured out the answer to. “This is the motherfucker who was in charge of my daily activities.”

Tim nodded and smirked just a little.

Jason went to the doorway and peered out. “Okay, no one else is in the hallway. Come on, kid.”

“Coming, Mr. Hood.”

Jason turned around, looking taken aback. “What? No, don’t- No ‘mister,’ just Hood, okay?”

“Only if you stop calling me kid.”

Jason sighed, “Fair enough.”

Tim laughed inside, getting to play out civilian to bat interactions were always fun, no matter the situation.

Hood slowly went into the hallway and Tim began to follow. But once he reached the asshole who’d been in charge of Jason’s torture, he kicked him in the ribs as hard as he could. Jason turned around and looked surprised. Tim shrugged. He went to step over the man but he may have misplaced his foot and stepped directly on the guys wounded kneecap, causing him to gasp out unconsciously. Tim smirked then walked out of the room. He closed the door and locked the ones he could. He and Jason moved cautiously, tensing any time it sounded like someone was approaching. It was a long hallway with multiple doors and an intersection in the middle they were about to reach.

“Do you know where you’re going, Hood?” Jason looked back at him and gave him a tired look that Tim easily read as _seriously_? How was Tim supposed to know? Earlier he wasn’t sure what bathroom they were in.

Before Tim could say anything else someone was charging Jason from the right hallway and flat out tackled him into the left one, which wasn’t a hallway, but a staircase. Tim rushed to the stairs and started down then, looking up to see the thug land on top of Jason, his hands around his throat. Tim skipped steps, jumped at the thug and tackled him off of Jason but at the same time threw himself against the far wall of the second floor foyer. He was seeing stars now and his head ached with renewed vigor, but he wasn’t completely out of it. He thought he heard voices in his ear but couldn’t be sure what they were saying. He heard the sounds of further scuffling but then was yanked up and held far too harshly to be Jason or the bats.

He finally understood Batman’s voice. “Are you guys okay up there? What’s going on?” Tim couldn’t answer because of the thugs holding him.

His vision cleared just in time to watch as Jason was slammed against the wall with his right arm trapped behind him, a forearm against his throat and a knife deep in his lower abdomen. The thug, who Tim assumed was higher up going by his clothes, was gripping the hilt and twisting it in Jason, causing him to grunt in pain.

His voice was gruff and sadistic. “You know, Hood? I’ve been wanting to do this for months since you started messing up my business.” _Okay, so maybe he’s the boss._ “I should’ve done it the first night you were here.”

Jason weakly grinned. “But ya didn’t. And you wanna know something else?”

The guy looked confused as Jason’s face grew hard.

“I’ve got your other knife.”

The guy’s eyes widened as Jason’s left arm that had been hidden from Tim, stabbed up and forward, hitting him right in the gut, hard enough that he let go of Jason and backed up. As he did, Jason kept hold of the knife, effectively pulling it from the body, then did a spinning back kick, hitting him square on the side of the head. He crashed to the ground, holding his hands to his middle as he started bleeding heavily. That’s when Tim noticed there were several bodies of unconscious thugs laying around the hall too.

Jason spun around and threw the knife. It sped toward Tim at what seemed like as fast as a bullet. It missed Tim’s shoulder by a height of six inches and instead hit the thug’s shoulder. He let go of Tim, semi pushing him forward as he backed away. Tim turned around and punched him so hard he fell, out cold.

The other two thugs reacted quickly, one aiming their gun at Jason and the other trying to grab Tim. Tim glanced at Jason to see he’d crashed to his knees, head down, and his left hand loosely holding the knife still in his side. Tim made a snap decision. He knew he might compromise his identity but Tim didn’t give a shit right now. He lunged for the thug about to fire the gun . He grabbed his arm, bent it so he dropped the weapon, then flipped him over, _hard_. When he turned to the thug who’d at first been trying to grab him, he saw he was now holding a gun, starting to pull the trigger.

Tim was able to shift just enough that the bullet went through Tim’s left shoulder instead of his heart. He fell back to the ground as the pain roared through him. It was a five foot shot, straight through. He vaguely heard Jason yell but didn’t understand what he said. He forced his eyes open and tried to block out the pain. He watched as Jason attacked the man who’d shot him. As Jason fought the guy down, another shot went off. Tim tensed and forced himself to sit up, his right hand over his wound. Jason punched the man beneath him out cold, then stood up and stepped back. The knife in his side was gone but now there was a bullet hole in his hip on the same side. Jason’s left hand instinctively moved over the hole. He looked around, still very tense, but relaxed a little at seeing the hallway empty of conscious men. He walked over to Tim and gently pulled him to his feet.

“How the hell are you still standing?” Tim asked incredulously, moving his right hand again to cover his bleeding shoulder.

Jason’s small smile was actually sincere. “My little brother’s in danger.”

Tim gaped a little at him as Jason gestured down the hall. “Come on, there’s a back staircase that with any luck, will be empty.”

They went toward the back of the house and found those stairs; it was a narrow case, meant to be hidden. Tim went first cutting off any arguments because Jason was far from steady on his feet and would more than likely fall down the stairs, again. As they neared the first floor, the sounds of fighting grew louder. Tim kept looking back, one to check on Jason and also to make sure no one was following. When Tim reached the bottom, he stopped and just looked around the corner. The stairs led out to a kitchen and through the large opening to the left showing a hallway and a living room across from it, he saw bodies on the ground and flashes of blue, yellow, and black among the gang members flying across the hallways and spaces.

Tim unmuted the microphone in the com and spoke quietly. “To anyone, Jay and I are on the back stairs in a kitchen, ground level.”

“Stay put,” Bruce growled quietly.

Tim remembered something. “To provide a bit more information about the situation, the gang leader is on the second floor main landing probably bleeding out on the rug, along with a bunch of other unconscious. None are as bad as Jason is though.”

No one responded so Tim just nodded to himself and stepped back so he was hidden from view. He looked at Jason who was two steps above him. His right hand gripped the railing tightly while his left continued to apply pressure on his hip wound, which was bleeding much heavier than the knife wound. Jason was breathing irregularly and his knees looked like they were about to buckle. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, Jason was more likely to just collapse than anything now. Tim took a step and gently helped Jason ease down to sit on the stair and lean against the wall. He knelt in front of him on the floor level and watched him, his heart going a lot faster now and any thought of his own injury fled.

He spoke more urgently into the com. “Any day now, some help would be appreciated. Jay is growing worse, bleeding heavily and fairly close to passing out now.”

Duke responded. “Nightwing and I are headed your way.”

Jason’s breathing was becoming even more labored and he started sliding forward against the wall, eyes slipping shut.

Tim wiped his bloody right hand off on his pants then put it on Jason’s left shoulder to keep him up. Without a shirt, Tim felt like his hand was burning just being in contact with his skin. “Jay, you still with me?”

He opened his eyes and his reply came out in a whisper. “Sure thing, Babybird.” His eyes narrowed. “Someone’s coming.”

Tim stood up and tensed, ready to fight if needed. Thankfully, it was just Nightwing and Signal, both who stopped and stared at them in what could probably be described as horror. Tim stepped into the kitchen so Dick could move to Jason. Signal turned and kept watch. Dick put a gentle hand on Jason's shoulder and looked incredibly upset.

“Oh god, Little Wing… We need to get you out of here, _now_ , before I kill these fuckers.”

Jason huffed a bit, closing his eyes. “There’s… a back door.”

“Okay,” Dick said softly. “Don’t push yourself, Little Wing. Tim.” Dick looked at Tim and nodded his head toward Jason.

Tim walked over and together he and Nightwing pulled Jason up, putting his arms on their shoulders, Tim being on Jason’s left since his own left shoulder was wounded. Signal led the way, going through the second kitchen entrance and sticking along the backside of the house, likely using his x-ray vision to find the exit. After going through a few rooms, they heard a rush of footsteps approaching.

Signal waved them forward. “It’s just one more room down. I’ll handle this.”

Tim and Nightwing kept going with Jason as Duke faced the direction they came from and began to manipulate the light. He moved the shadows to encase the room and then creep out into the room they came from. As they reached the backdoor, they heard startled sounds and shouts, followed by an efficient ass kicking. They waited by the door for Duke. He ran into the room a minute later and without saying anything, led the way into the empty backyard.

“Hey Sig, I ever tell you...that shadow power thing is fucking awesome,” Jason jumbled out, still sounding sincere though. Signal turned back to them for a moment with a smile then kept leading the way around the house.

“Nightwing, Signal, report.” Batman ordered through the com, sounding like he wasn’t moving anymore.

Signal answered. “We got Hood and Drake and are heading from the backyard around the house to the front. Hood is in really bad shape,” Duke added quietly. Jason hmphed but there wasn’t much annoyance behind it. His head was beginning to drop. “Drake only has a bullet wound to the shoulder, but it’s clean.”

“Okay. Get Hood to the cave. The rest of us will stay for clean-up and keep Drake safe till an ambulance arrives for him.”

Tim cut in. “No way am I leaving Jason.”

Batman’s voice came out soft in understanding, to the bats ears anyway. “I know, but you’ll need to make a statement and go to the hospital for the wound. He’ll still be there when you can go home.” Tim grumbled meaningless words but conceded, knowing the protocols. “Good. All threats are down. The gang leader was found and should make it.” Tim kept himself from grumbling about that too. But if he was still alive, then he may be alive for Red Robin to find and beat the hell out of later for what he put Jason through. Him and the motherfucker they left in the bathroom.

Once they neared the front yard, they could see police lights in the dark through the trees, likely just a few streets away. Signal quickly but gently took Tim’s position holding Jason.

“We need to get him out of here before the cops arrive,” Nightwing said, straining under Jason’s growing dead weight as he began to pass out.

Signal nodded and they started walking to the nearest batmobile, Jason's feet now just dragging behind. There were two parked out front, likely because they knew one would have to leave with Jason in it.

Nightwing glanced back at Tim and tried to smile reassuringly. “He’ll be okay. We’ll try to keep you updated through the com if they keep you long at the hospital.”

Tim just nodded and watched as Duke and Dick gently maneuvered Jason toward the nearest car then into the back seat. Duke went around and got into the backseat first to pull him in, and so Jason was laying down with his head on Duke's lap. Dick hurried into the driver’s seat and sped off.

Tim sighed deeply and tried not to worry about his brother, and to not let the guilt eat him alive just yet. He walked towards the front door. He was only halfway there when Stephanie came sprinting out and threw herself at him in a hug. She held on tightly for a brief moment before letting go and stepping back. It was good timing because the cops just pulled up.

“I’m glad you’re okay, for the most part,” Spoiler said quietly to him. Then she started acting like the vigilante and he the victim, and helped him walk toward where the cops were gathering. Batman, Robin and Batgirl joined them a couple minutes later. An ambulance arrived just after. He gave his statement as they walked to it. Tim left out everything involving Red Hood. He knew that all of Jay’s uniform in the house, Batman had already gotten it out. He was then ushered onto a stretcher where paramedics immediately started tending to his shoulder. His last view before they closed the doors was Batman standing in the middle of the yard, glaring at the house with his fists clenched tightly.

**

Tim wasn't at the hospital for more than three hours; after stitching the wound and hooking him up to an IV, there was nothing else they could do. Tim thinks he could have a concussion but he wasn’t going to tell the doctors that, even though they had checked. He’s dealt with them before and didn’t need any scans or anything that would just keep him there longer. As promised, Dick kept giving him updates on Jason, through his surgery, when he got out, and how bad he really was, which was bad. Batman and the others had to stay at the house for at least an hour to help round up the men and evidence. And then Bruce stayed with Jason till he was out of surgery, which Tim completely understood.

So after about three hours, Bruce arrived, actually looking incredibly worried. Not outwardly, but deep set worry. Tim didn’t ask anything and Bruce didn’t say anything all the way back to the manor. Despite the civilian car, Bruce took a cave entrance and parked on the cave parking deck. They both rushed out of the car, though Bruce had to steady him going up the stairs. The concussion and his left arm in a sling was throwing his balance off. They went straight to the med bay where everyone was sitting throughout the large main room, all looking exhausted and upset.

Bruce and Tim stopped in the doorway as they saw Jason. Under the bright lights of the room, the sickly paleness of Jason’s skin was even more prominent. Ugly colored bruises were all over his body, some yellowing, revealing the age of them. Several places were swelling: his right knee, both elbows, and various bumps throughout. He had fluids going in, wrappings around his head and his ribs. There was intense bandaging around Jason’s lower right side and hip. Jason wrists and ankles were insanely purple and green and also swelling. Alfred was just hooking him back up to oxygen. Tim thought that was a really good idea with all the drowning and mock drowning he suffered through. Jason will likely struggle with breathing for a while until his body and mind can get past the trauma of that. Alfred then got ice packs and gently wrapped them on each wrist and ankle which had the worst visible bruising of all. Lastly, he draped a blanket over his entire body, folding it just below his neck.

Bruce led Tim to the bed nearest Jason’s, about six feet away, then helped him onto it. As he settled, Tim noticed a video camera on the table beside the door, almost hidden among Jason’s uniform pieces they’d recovered, including every scrap of his broken helmet.

“Bruce, what’s the camera?” He asked, getting everyone’s attention to focus on that.

Bruce closed his eyes for a moment then walked over and picked it up, staring at it like he was trying to burn it with his eyes. “They recorded what they did to him. Likely as entertainment for after they killed him.”

Tim looked around and every single member of the family had the same expression of guilt, even Damian.

“They were actually going to auction him off to the highest bidder, for his _execution_.” Tim mentioned sadly. He quickly spoke again at seeing the looks of horror on his family's faces. “You’re not going to watch it, are you?” Tim asked, already knowing the answer.

Bruce dropped his somber face and nodded. “I am. I need to know what they did to him. Things we could have prevented if we used our brains and stopped walking on egg shells around him in the emotional department. I know for me, that’s saying something, but if we’d at least tried to reach out once this past week, we could have saved him from this. If they hadn’t taken Tim, we wouldn’t have even known until it was too late.”

No one verbally replied, but they all looked to Jason, their brother they had been cautious to bring all the way back in, not because he might hurt them, but because they could hurt him by pushing too much. But they clearly hadn’t pushed far enough the past several months.

Bruce put down the camera and walked up to Jason’s bedside. He sat down on the chair against the wall between his and Tim’s bed, and very gently ran a hand through Jason's hair. “You all should get some rest. I’m staying here.”

They all nodded sadly and slowly made their way out of the cave, except Tim, who would be spending the night in the med bay.

Alfred paused in the doorway. “Master Bruce, be sure to replace the icepacks in thirty minute intervals.” Bruce nodded sadly then looked back to Jason.

After about ten minutes, Bruce moved his chair to the end of their beds and faced them, so he could see both of them entirely.

There was silence for a few more minutes before Bruce finally asked. “Tim, how- how was he when you first saw him?”

Tim didn’t answer right away, hating that the sounds and images would forever been engrained in his mind.

“They stuck me in the same room as him, but I didn’t know because I still had a bag over my head. But- but I heard what was happening. All I heard was rushing water and the clear sounds of someone in a lot of distress, intermixed with rough coughing and a lot of laughing. I didn’t know it was Jason until after they finished and poured the water they had left down his throat, practically choking him. They laughed and called him Hood. For the next hour… it was awful. I had to lay there and just listen to Jason being tortured and in pain and these guys taking so much pleasure in it.” Tim paused for a minute, to give himself a moment and to let Bruce process. Then he continued. “After like an hour they figured out I was awake, about the same time someone over walkie talkie told them to ‘chain their _pet_ back up.’ The one in charge told Jason he was going to pay in full for what he did, and you know Jason, he basically told him he didn’t give a shit. They knocked me out the same time they did Jason. When I woke up, I’ve no idea how long I’d been out, I freed myself and I saw Jason chained up across from me. The position Jason was chained in- it was horrible. He was tied to a wide column, knees on the ground on either side, and arms and legs chained behind the column. But they- they also cuffed his wrists and ankles together so they were practically touching, pulling his legs and arms in almost unnatural, painful ways. Explains why his elbows are swollen if that’s how they continually chained him up.”

Bruce’s eyes turned to Jason, anger and sadness at war just visible on his face.

Tim spoke again, telling him something he felt was extremely important. “Bruce, the men who were torturing him kept telling him that the bats didn’t even notice he was missing, that they weren’t coming for him, and things like ‘they could keep him for a month longer and the bats wouldn’t notice.’ I- I think Jason believed them, on some level. I told him we hadn’t considered something was wrong with his lack of communication but that we should have. He- he responded like he’d expected that kind of answer. That we would just forget about him and go about our lives.”  
  
Bruce closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fist under his chin.

“The only reason we found him was because they abducted me. Jason knows that. It doesn’t just stop there, B. They were torturing him for a week and he tried to almost defend them, to be fair about why they were doing it. Like- like it was his fault and he deserved it all. He hates himself and thinks everyone hates him too. That he can’t be loved and he deserves all that pain. I tried to tell him otherwise, practically preached it at him. And he got emotional, but he didn’t say anything to it. And knowing him, he’ll probably think I said it all out of guilt.”

“Then we’ll have to show him otherwise. We’ll prove it to him. All of us. We’ve been so afraid to push him away by trying to pull him in too fast, but, I think that’s what we need to do. Just a little bit every day till he knows how loved he is. How missed he is. And we’ll help him through whatever he’s suffering from and all issues that came with what he’s gone through this past week.” Bruce declared it all confidently, trying to will it to happen easier than it actually will. But maybe that’s the kind of hope they needed right now.

“You should get some sleep too, Tim,” Bruce said gently, turning to him. Tim just nodded and leaned back on the bed. He glanced at Jason for a second then closed his eyes.

**

Tim woke up easily, sort of feeling numb actually. He opened his eyes and saw dim ceiling lights hanging above him. After blinking a few times, he recalled where he was and why. He turned his head to the right. Jason was still over there, unmoved and out cold, though the blanket had been moved down past his hips and fresh bandages applied to the two wounds there. He was still incredibly pale, not that Tim expected him to not be anymore, and most of his bruises seemed darker.

He slowly sat up, regaining feeling in his body as he did. His shoulder hurt a lot but it was something he was sure he could deal with. He got to his feet and wandered out of med bay. One problem with the cave was that it was near impossible to tell what time it was. As he walked to the main computer, he heard Bruce and Dick talking quietly. They stopped when they saw Tim approaching. Both were standing, though Bruce was lightly leaning on the desk.

Dick smiled at him. “Tim, how are you feeling?”

Tim shrugged. “I’m fine. It’s not my first bullet wound or concussion. And it’s not like that stupid gang did anything else to me.”

“How you’re feeling is still important, Tim,” Bruce said, giving him a small smirk and pointing to the chair beside him.

Tim huffed a little but smiled and sat down. “So, anything else happen last night or whenever it was?”

“It was last night. It’s early afternoon now. And no. Except a few of the gang members who escaped are spreading rumors that Red Hood is dead.” Bruce told him, looking pensive about it.

“Um, I don’t think that’s a good thing,” Tim stated.

Dick shook his head. “No, it’s not. It means more gangs or crime lords will try to take over the Alley and the Narrows. Which is why we were discussing a way to squash the rumors before it gets out of hand.”

Tim furrowed his brows at them. “How?”

Dick and Bruce shared a look, then Dick answered. “By Nightwing taking a night off and Red Hood just patrolling without engaging, because none of us have the skill set Jason does. It would only be like an hour or so, just for enough of the low life’s to see him and spread the word.”

“So, _you’re_ going to dress up as Red Hood and just run around for an hour?” Tim questioned, actually amused by the thought.

Dick sighed. “Yes. It’s the least we could do after all this; make sure his territory doesn’t get chaotic again while he recovers.” Tim and Bruce nodded in agreement.

They stayed there, talking about the gang from last night and other issues going on around the city. Small talk basically. Alfred came down after about an hour with sandwiches, coffee and tea. He set it down on the console then went to check on Jason. The three at the computer ate in silence, waiting to see what Alfred said. When he came down, he looked somber and just shook his head. Nothing had changed. He went back up to the manor. After eating, they began working on their respective cases on different computer monitors, just as something to distract them. But on the biggest monitor was showing Jason's vitals and video feed of the med bay. Jason hadn't moved.

As evening descended, Bruce and Dick began discussing if Dick should go out tonight as Hood and if Bruce should go out at all. It was going to be dark soon and at least some of the family needed to be on patrol. They rest will probably be down soon to join the discussion.

It had been about four hours since Tim woke up when the vitals monitor showed Jason’s spiking. Looking up at the screen, they saw Jason was on the floor. The three of them rushed back up to the med bay.

When they got there, Jason was curled in on himself, coughing harshly and gasping for air. He must have panicked the moment he woke up to have crashed out of the bed. He took the IV stand with him though ripping it out of his arm and he was tangled in the bed sheet. The oxygen fell too but it looked like Jason had yanked the mask off himself as it was in his hand.

Tim and Dick stayed in the doorway as Bruce carefully walked up to him. As he did, Jason flinched back, moving against the wall then semi-sitting up. It looked like he was trying to disappear into it. They couldn’t see his face but it was clear he was in a panic and didn’t know where he was.

Bruce crouched down a couple feet away from him, hands raised in the air a little.

“Jason, it’s okay. You’re home. It’s Bruce. Tim and Dick are here too. You’re safe, Jaylad. You’re home.”

Jason’s breathing calmed and he slowly raised his head. His eyes were defensive and almost feral, but once recognition set in, his whole body drained and how scared Jason actually was came to show in his face. He closed his eyes, took deep, slow breaths, and leaned his head back against the wall.

Bruce moved closer till he was sitting beside him. He wrapped an arm around Jason; he initially flinched at the touch, but then just fell against him. Bruce brought him closer in a hug.

“You’re okay, Jase. You’re safe.”

Very slowly, Jason moved his arms around Bruce and buried his head into his neck. They stayed like that for a minute, Bruce continuing to whisper reassuring words to Jason and lightly rubbing his back in circles.

“Tim… oh god, where’s Tim?” Jason started to ask, pulling away from Bruce a little and panic creeping into his voice, clearly forgetting Bruce mentioned he was there.

Tim walked in and crouched in front of him. “I’m right here, Jay. Of course, rather than worrying about your own condition, you worry about me.” Tim spoke in an amused tone, but serious all the same.

“You were shot, Timothy,” Jason mumbled and rested his head against Bruce’s shoulder, facing out.

“So were you since you’re the dumbass who decided to tackle the gunman.”

“Yeah, and as I recall, the gunman that had shot you and was about to shoot you again.”

“You had literally just been stabbed.”

“And? That’s an excuse to watch my baby brother die? I don’t think so.”

“Alright boys,” Bruce cut in, a light smile on his face. He turned to look down at Jason, gently rubbing his shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

Jason raised his head just a little to look at Bruce’s face. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Yes,” Bruce replied firmly. Jason looked a bit surprised but replied anyway.

“Okay, well, to put it simply; I feel like I was chained to the back of a boat and dragged across the ocean with waves of daggers while randomly being paddled to death. Seriously, never. Swimming. Again.”

“Well, that’s a cheerful way to put it,” Dick mused as he walked further into the room and leaned against Tim's bed, crossing his arms and smirking.

“You asked,” Jason said back, resting his head more on Bruce again and closing his eyes.

Tim turned around when he heard a bunch of footsteps coming up to the med bay. He glanced back at Jason and saw him tense. Bruce held him tighter and whispered to him again. Dick saw it too and went to the door to tell them all to slow and quiet down.

“It’s okay, Jaylad. It’s just the family. We’ve all been really worried about you.”

Jason just huffed a little. Bruce looked down at him in concern but didn’t say anything yet. Everyone else came into the room, though Barbara came from the elevator within the med bay.

Nobody spoke, simply looked relieved at Jason, seeing him awake. Jason looked at them and smiled tiredly. Bruce gave everyone a look to stay quiet for a minute.

“Jason,” he started, getting Jason’s attention again. “You need to know, we are all _so_ sorry you went through this, and that we didn’t look for you sooner.”

Jason shrugged a little. “It’s fine, B. You guys didn’t know where I was.”

Bruce furrowed his brows but Tim spoke quickly and maybe a bit sharply, fulling sitting on the floor now. “That’s not the point, Jay. We _should_ have. Do you remember anything I told in that house?”

Jason stitched his brows then shook his head. “Vaguely.”

Tim spoke deliberately and clearly, like he was trying to force the words into Jason's head. “Well, the gist was, we give a damn about you but have been too cautious around you so as not to push you away by trying to pull you in too fast. That’s why we didn’t contact you when we realized you’d been gone for several days. But we _should have._ You’re part of our family and we’re going to stop pretending like you’re a black sheep or some shit. We’re all fucked up too and I refuse to let you think that you don’t belong in this family. We all fucked up this week, but I can promise you, we’re never going to let something like this happen again. We might step on your toes but at the very _least_ I will be calling you every fucking day. Because that’s what families do. And you are fucking part of it. _Forever_. No matter how badly you fuck up. Clearly, we all fucked up big time this past week. But, we stick together. Got it?”

Jason was just staring at Tim. Bruce smiled at Tim then turned down to Jason. Jason’s eyes fell to the floor as he processed what Tim just said. Tim looked back at the rest of the family. They all looked sad and happy, nodding in agreement.

Dick walked over and kneeled beside Tim, then put a hand on Jason’s leg so he’d look up at him. Dick gave him a goofy smile. “And maybe tell us the next time you decide to take on an entire gang by yourself or anything equally as insane. At least so we know in case something happens, right? I mean, a cinderblock to the head, I’d definitely say that was cheating but, obviously it does happen.”

Jason smirked a bit and shook his head in amusement.

“We’re all here for you, dude,” Duke said, leaning against the bed rail. “I know I’m relatively new, but this is the most Ohana driven group I’ve ever seen and especially, been part of. You’re the Stitch in this scenario, by the way.”

Jason actually laughed a little, though it turned into quiet coughing; he kept smiling though. Tim grinned up at Duke, “Who’s the Lilo?”

Duke thought for a moment then grinned too. “Bruce. Cause you know, he’s adopted us all. We’re all fucked up aliens from outer space that he’s crazy enough to take in.” Cass and Stephanie grinned as they hopped onto Jason's bed, sitting cross legged.

“Yeah, that sounds right,” Dick agreed, smiling brightly as he stood back up. Bruce smirked and shook his head in amusement.

Jason leaned his head back against the wall, smiling fully now. “If I’m Stitch though, that means I’m the best of all of you.”

Damian tutted from his position against the wall beside the door. “Inaccurate. What are you all even talking about?”

Everyone in the room gasped and looked to Damian. Even Alfred and Bruce looked surprised, then didn't knowing why he wouldn't have seen that movie. He's probably only seen like max five kids movies. Dick was the first to recover and grinned brightly.

“Movie night!”

Bruce smiled and looked down to Jason. “What do you think, Jaylad? Think you can make it upstairs?”

Jason nodded tiredly. “Can’t promise I’m going to stay awake very long though. And if we could maybe...bring the oxygen too.”

Paying attention now, Tim noticed Jason was breathing really heavily, just not loudly.

“Of course, Master Jason. I’ll also fetch a wheelchair. Your limbs have been through enough abuse.”

Alfred left the room to find the chair. Bruce looked up at everyone.

“Why don’t you all set up the movie and get snacks. We’ll meet you up there.”

There was some cheering, Dick and Stephanie mainly, as they left the room. Damian still looked confused. Tim stayed there, though stood up and leaned against his bed.

Bruce focused on Jason again, whose head was back on the wall still and eyes were closed.

“Jason, you understood what we, or more Tim was trying to tell you, right? I know this past week speaks against it, but we will make it up to you and will do better from now on. We will never let this happen again. You’re part of this family. You never stopped being a part of it. And you never will. We want you here with us, as often as you feel comfortable. Though we want you every day. But we didn’t want to push.”

Jason nodded and dropped his head. “I get it, I guess. That’s partially on me too though. I- I want to be with you all more too, I just thought- I thought you guys didn’t want me around.”

Bruce sighed deeply and pressed his head against Jason’s. “You can come home as often as you’d like. I suppose this has been a rather unfortunate case of miscommunication.”

Tim snorted. “More like lack thereof.”

Bruce nodded. “Yes. We won’t push, Jason. You hold the cards with this. If you want to be home, then come home. We’ll be here, waiting for you when you’re ready. No one gets left behind, or…” Bruce looked like he couldn’t remember the last word of the quote, though Tim was kind of shocked he knew any of it; he must have watched it with Dick or Jason in their Robin days. Tim was about to finish it for him, but Jason did first.

“Forgotten,” Jason mumbled, smiling a bit.

Bruce smiled, “Right. Now come on. Let’s get you upstairs so we can all smother you with care and love.”

Jason’s face cringed a little, making Bruce and Tim laugh. Alfred came in then, rolling a chair. Bruce helped Jason get to his feet, which was laborious for Jason whose blood drained from his head upon standing and his legs about collapsed beneath him. Bruce guided him to the chair while Alfred retrieved the respirator. They then trailed to the elevator.

When they got to the living room, the movie menu was up, their siblings were scattered across furniture and the floor with mounds of pillows, and Damian was complaining about it being a kid’s movie while Dick tried to talk him into it.

The long couch directly across from the tv was empty save for the fluffiest blanket in the house and a bunch of pillows. Bruce wheeled Jason to it then helped transfer him from the chair to the couch, where Jason instantly crashed, laying out over the whole thing and breathing hard. Bruce covered him in the blanket and Alfred set up the respirator, then gently put the mask on Jason.

Tim grabbed a large pillow and put it up against the couch. He sat down against it, right below Jason’s head. Alfred walked over to the snack cart already piled with movie snacks and began passing things around. After he was done, he sat in his armchair. Bruce was in the armchair directly beside the couch, at the end with Jason’s head, close enough to run his hand through his hair. Tim looked back and saw Jason was already asleep. He smiled a little, knowing he really needed it, and happy that Jason felt safe to sleep with his whole family around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be adding short chapters to follow this just to smother Jason in the love he deserves
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!


	2. If we hit on troubled water, I'll be the one to keep you warm and safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to do one chapter/shot fluff piece buuuuut now it's going to be like 8 (maybe 10) short, and I mean short, fluff chapters with each sibling (and Bruce, Alfred and maybe Selina) and Jason while he's recovering. May be excessive but oh well who doesn't want more Jason family comfort and love?
> 
> This chapter is Jason & Dick
> 
> Enjoy :)

The house was quiet. It had been two days since Jason’s rescue from his week of meaningless torture. Due to his injuries, troubled breathing, and his week-long stay in a cold, dark bathroom, he was provided a guest room on the bottom floor with a view of the garden. And most importantly, it was on the opposite side of the house from the rest of the family. Jason preferred it that way because he knew the kinds of nightmares he’d likely be having and didn’t want to have to put the family through listening to it.

However, Dick refused to leave him completely alone and moved to a guest room on the second floor near and above Jason’s room. Jason didn’t mind but he had locked the door and the windows as his anxiety and paranoia of being woken up by torture haunted him; it was hard to sleep, knowing what could be coming for him when he woke up. He couldn’t get past it. Those men woke him up a different and increasingly painful way every day. Dick and Alfred were the only ones with keys to his room, but they promised only to use them if absolutely necessary. But every time Jason woke up, he woke up unable to breathe. He had to keep a respirator beside the bed just to make sure he didn’t die from flashbacks of being drowned.

On the third morning, Jason finally agreed to taking a shower, but only if one of his brothers were somewhere in the bathroom talking to him. Just thinking about going under a stream of water near gave him a panic attack. Dick of course was first to offer and Jason honestly appreciated that. Dick could talk for hours without needing someone conversing back. The shower was a stone stall with an opaque glass door. Dick was somewhere else in the obnoxiously large bathroom so he wouldn’t see Jason when he came out. Jason tried to take his time and keep his breathing steady, focusing on every single word Dick said. He was speaking lightly, genuinely content and relaxed. Jason knew Dick had to be worried but Dick was good at hiding it while talking, especially if no one could see his face.

Jason finished in about ten minutes and about tripped leaving the stall. His breathing was unsteady, but began evening out as soon as the water turned off. Dick continued speaking without pause while Jason dried off and carefully got dressed. His was a walking bruise, almost every part of him ached, like it was all throbbing with his heartbeat. The two wounds on his hip were painfully pulled with every step.

Jason slowly walked across the room, he was really exhausted now, and saw Dick laying in the bathtub, his whole body was below the top of the tub.

Jason suddenly couldn’t breathe as he just stared at his brother, he couldn’t move as a flashback took over his mind.

_Jason was blindfolded. His wrists and ankles were still cuffed as per usual. The men were dragging him across the room. He’d heard them filling up the bathtub again. He took a deep breath to prepare himself for being drowned once more. But he couldn’t suppress the shiver of fear that ran through him. But this time, it was different._

_Once they reached the tub, the water stopped and the men were snickering quietly. After a few seconds, his legs were lifted up and he was tossed into the tub of ice cold water. A dozen hands held every part of him down so his entire body was submerged. Jason held his breath as long as he could, which he knew to be over several minutes in a one and done situation. But from all the drownings so far, that time was growing shorter as he got less and less oxygen over the time he’s been here. This time, he thinks it’s only a minute before he started struggling and began thrashing to at least get his head above. But they held strong: two hands keeping his head pressed to the bottom of the tub, two on each shoulder, two hands per leg, and one hand on each ankle._

“Jason, hey, come on Little Wing, breathe.”

_Just when Jason’s sure he’s about to black out, they yank his head above the water. He gets one gulp of air before he’s shoved back under for an even longer amount of time. It kept going for what felt like forever. He was completely under water and surrounded in darkness, which made it so much worse. It felt like he was being pushed to the depths of the ocean, no hope of swimming away or breathing again._

“Jay, you’re safe, just listen to my breathing, okay?”

Whoever was speaking wasn’t touching him, but instead waving a fan at his face to generate a feeling of air coming in to try and replace the feel of water. Jason very slowly came back, and it felt like rising from the water, focusing intently on the air coming at his face. After he felt he could breathe again and had oxygen in his lungs, he opened his eyes. He was laying on the tile floor of the bathroom, his wet hair pulling the cold of it to his scalp.

“Hey, Little Wing, you back with me?” Dick’s soft concerned voice traveled down to him. Jason moved his eyes and blurrily landed on Dick’s face. Jason nodded gently. “Can I help you sit up?” Jason nodded again, so Dick put the fan down and put his arm behind his shoulders. Once Jason was sitting, he allowed himself to fall against Dick, seeking the warmth and safety that came with his older brother. Dick wrapped his arms around him and stayed there.

“The fan…worked much better,” Jason mumbled out.

Dick took a deep sigh of relief. “Good. That’s good.” His family figured out on the first morning to not wake him up or pull him from a flashback by touching him, because it only made it so much worse.

“You smell so clean now,” Dick joked gently. Jason huffed and let his eyes close, his ear remaining pressed up against Dick’s chest. He mimicked Dick’s steady breathing. “Jay, may I ask? What triggered it?”

Jason took a deep breath and spoke, his words only really coming out in a whisper. “You did.”

“What?” Dick responded at equal quietness, obviously confused.

“You were completely in the tub…all of you below the top of it. They…did that to me several times…but with ice water in the tub, holding me entirely under. For a long time.”

Dick hugged him a little tighter and rested his forehead against Jason’s wet head, spreading warmth down his body.

“I’m so sorry, Little Wing.”

Jason didn’t say anything to that, because it wasn’t okay, so what was he supposed to say? It wasn’t Dick’s fault what happened. Jason…he didn’t deserve what happened to him, so he wasn’t going to say it was okay. Tim has continued to tell him that every couple hours. Jason was just trying to convince himself of it now.

Jason took a deep calming breath and felt some anxiety flow out of him. Jason smiled a tiny bit. “Thanks for talking.”

Jason felt Dick smile against his head. “Of course. Though I just have to point out, that is the first time anyone in the family has been grateful for me being a chatterbox.”

Jason laughed a little. “Guess we finally have a good use for you now.” Dick chuckled a little, pouring more warmth into Jason, and pulled him closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! I dunno when they next will come (last semester of college is going to be an overload I expect, but I'll write when I need a break) so keep an eye out for the next Jason & family fluff :)
> 
> check me out on tumblr! :D 
> 
> https://little-wayward-bird.tumblr.com/


	3. 5 years, 20 years, come back, it will always be the same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Barbara

It was early Wednesday afternoon, the third day after _it_ and Jason was freshly clean and hopefully will not have to shower again in the next couple days; he can only handle so much of that. He was sitting on the window bench in his room with the door closed, just hoping for some silence and peace, both in his head and around him. He had been reading some stories from _One Thousand and One Nights,_ or better know, as _Arabian Nights,_ which is the English edition, but got distracted by a fox that had made its way onto the grounds and into the gardens, so now the book was just open on his lap. Jason smirked at the thought of Alfred seeing the critter wandering around his plants.

He was pulled back inside when he heard two voices outside or at least near his door. He looked over and saw shadows moving underneath it. The voices were quiet, but Jason just listened intently.

_“I’m sorry, Miss Barbara, but his door is closed and locked, which means he simply wishes for some solitude right now. But might I ask, why the desire to see him so urgently?”_

_“It’s just… when his com came back online, I had assumed the worst of him without even considering something worse was happening_ to _him. I should have, because every time someone is in trouble, especially in the family, Jason always comes. I shouldn’t have jumped to a conclusion like that. I just- I need to apologize.”_

_“My dear, from what I could tell, Master Jason had been unconscious at that moment.”_

_"I know but, I need to apologize, and not just for that.”_

That piqued Jason’s curiosity because he couldn’t think of what else she’d be apologetic for. He grabbed his phone from the side table near him and texted Alfred.

_“Well, we need to respect Master Jason’s wishes, so-”_ Alfred paused for a moment, likely looking at the text from Jason. _“It appears Master Jason is aware we’re out here, and he has said I can let you in.”_

There was quiet for a moment as Alfred unlocked the door. Jason turned to look back out the window, bringing one knee up to rest his head on. He wrapped his arms around that leg. The door opened quietly and Barbara came into the room. Alfred gently closed the door behind her. Jason could feel her eyes on him, but he didn’t speak first.

She rolled forward till she was just a few feet away from him. She spoke gently.

“Hi, Jason. How are you feeling?”

Jason shrugged a little, feeling pretty much the same as he has been the past couple days. He was really just trying not to think about it right now. He took a deep breath and fixated his eyes on the fox again as it slunk through some flower bushes.

“I heard what you said just now. It’s obvious that was what everyone had been thinking, that I was just ignoring you guys. I don’t really care; I’d expected something like that, honestly. The past couple days though, I can tell you all are guilty about it and are trying to make up for it. So, it’s okay. But, other than that, what do you think you need to apologize for?” The fox disappeared from sight for a moment in the azaleas. Jason turned his head to look at Barbara, moving to lay his cheek on the top of his knee. He wasn’t really nervous about appearing vulnerable to her, she understood.

Barbara turned her wheels a little and came closer, so she was right by the bench but at the end where his foot was. “Just- of everyone in the family, you and I can relate to each other in regards to being damaged by the Joker. I suppose Duke is in the category now too, actually. But, you know what I mean, we’ve both had our entire lives changed because of one person and came back damaged.”

“Yeah, but Barbara, you came back stronger than you were before it. I just came back... wrong.”

Barbara shook her head. “You didn’t come back wrong, Jason. You came back _alone_ and had to deal with so much trauma by yourself. Considering the circumstances, you came back stronger, but just gradually, over more time. You are stronger; holding out there for a week without giving in. Not many could withstand all that. There is nothing wrong with you, Jay.”

Jason huffed through his nose but avoided the topic. “What does this have to do with you apparently needing to apologize?”

She smiled sadly. “Right… I never tried to help you, after you came back and more fully integrated with the family again. I knew what the Joker did to me, so I knew, to an extent, what he did to you in the long run. I could have helped you these past couple years, helped you cope. But, we’ve barely even spoken and I think that’s on me. We had a relatively good relationship when you were Robin and when you came home, I ignored the fact that it was still you but just buried under new layers. I never reached out, and for that I’m sorry.”

Jason turned to look back out the window, resting his chin on his knee now and just fell into thought. Barbara stayed silent while he did. Barbara was more of a sibling than Dick was back then. She was dealing with her own problems at the time he first came back from the dead. But it had been nice with her before the time that everything went to shit. Jason smiled a little at a memory that came forward. Barbara looked a little scared by his smirk, so Jason turned it into a soft smile.

“Do you remember that time when we were in the library, you were tutoring me in math and Dick came to the manor?”

“I do. You were really frustrated that you couldn’t understand the concept. You kept pacing around the library as you tried to figure it out, scowling and grumbling the whole time.”

Jason huffed in amusement. “Yeah. I was a bit dramatic back then, wasn’t I?”

“Back then? Jay, I hate to break it to you, but you’re still _extremely_ dramatic. It’s probably worse than when you were Robin.”

Jason laughed quietly, not disagreeing, and turned back to her, just leaning back against the wall. “You were so patient, I honestly don’t know how you put up with me. Eventually you got me to sit back down and we were about to have a break through. Then Dickface marches in, looking all angsty as usual-”

Barbara beamed warmly. “And before he could say a word, I told him to get out… because I was hanging out with my little brother.”

Jason features softened. “Yeah… he was so shocked he just turned around and walked right out of the room. I thought it was really kind of funny seeing him so flustered.”

“He asked me about it later, confused because apparently he hadn’t realized that we’d actually made a sort of sibling relationship. It made him start rethinking about how he’d been treating and how he hadn’t even really given you a chance.”

“Is that why like a couple months later he actually started offering to patrol with me and doing stuff together?”

She laughed lightly. “Yeah, I think so. If I was willing to give you a chance, it was pretty much a slap to him that he should’ve been doing the same.”

“Hm,” Jason grunted with a smirk and turned back to the window. “Thanks. And thanks for apologizing, I guess.”

“So, I’m still your big sister, then?” She wondered out loud, sounding sure and hopeful at the same time.

Jason’s smirk stayed as he peered over at her. “Yeah, Barbie.”

They stayed in content silence for a few minutes, both looking out the window now. The fox suddenly ran out of the flower garden, being chased away by Alfred with a broom. He was smiling and shaking his head in amusement as it sprinted back across the yard towards the far end of the grounds. It stopped before reaching the trees, turned back to look at Alfred than skipped off. Jason and Barbara chuckled softly. Alfred turned around and began sweeping the mess the little fox made. It didn’t take long for him and after a couple minutes he made his way back inside.

Jason straightened his leg back down and fully relaxed back against the wall. He relaxed his hands back into his lap. He looked down, remembering the book that rested there.

“What are you reading?” Barbara asked kindly.

Jason smiled slightly and picked it up, going to the page he’d left off on. “One Thousand and One Nights.”

She smirked. “Didn’t I suggest that book to you?”

Jason chuckled, “Oh yeah, you did. I found it in the library yesterday, and I realized I’d never finished it… because- ya know. Thought I’d finally get around to it.”

“I don’t think I ever finished it either,” Barbara suggested with a sly smile. Jason knew for a fact she has, but he got the hint.

“Do you remember what night you left off on?” Jason quipped.

Barbara’s smile grew. “I don’t actually. But it’s easy to just slip in wherever you left off.”

“Hm, right,” Jason joked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

She laughed a bit. “Are you reading it in Arabic or English?”

Jason sighed. “English. I’d rather read it in its original language, but I just don’t have the focus or mental energy for that right now.”

“Understandable. So, what night have you reached?” She rolled her chair around and then closer so she was right next to the bench by his knees and facing him now.

“Well I just finished ‘Isaac and Mosul’ which was nights 280 to 282. So now I’m on the 283rd night which is ‘The Sweep and the Noble Lady.’”

“Wonderful,” Barbara stated then shifted to settle more comfortably in her chair. Jason sighed contently, crossed his ankles and picked up his book, once again only needing the light from the window. He’d wanted some peace and silence. Reading aloud in a silent room with an old friend who enjoyed books as much as he did, was what he needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Stay tuned for next fluff chapter! It will either be Cass or Damian! 
> 
> To any of my From Now On readers who're reading this, I have not forgotten or abandoned it, I promise you all that! I'm currently doing my creative writing thesis and FNO is a very in depth project that I want to give my full attention to, so I haven't been able to work on it much. When I get a nice break I will, def not going to leave you all hanging for so long ... again. Thanks for being patient with me ^_^ 
> 
> ps: (This chapter was a little over a 1000 word piece, didn't take tons of time or intense focus to write, i'm not just putting FNO off, promise)


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